food intolerance – Healthy and Hopeful

Over the past couple years, I have been having gastrointestinal discomfort, pain and bloating that have gotten progressively worse over time. In an effort to avoid a dramatic elimination diet that takes awhile and is hard to stick to, I tried keeping a food & symptom journal to track my reactions and figure out a culprit with no luck. It seemed that I would feel bad just about every day. When I saw that EverlyWell was doing a 30% off Black Friday sale on their tests, I decided to give the Food Sensitivities test a try.

A note on the difference between Food Sensitivities vs. Food Allergies… An allergy is a histamine response that the immune system produces (IgE antibodies) and occur immediately after consumption. Sensitivity is still an immune response (IgG antibodies), but typically not as severe and a different reaction – GI issues, acne, fatigue, brain fog, etc can all by symptoms- and can occur / last for days after consuming. This can make them quite difficult to identify (definitely my experience). The EverlyWell test is for Food Sensitivities (IgG).

The Process

After ordering, I received my kit in the mail just 3 days later. It came with simple instructions to do a finger prick for blood samples (something I was used to after having gestational diabetes). I was a little unsure about my sample, so I emailed their customer service a picture and got a quick response that it looked perfect.

I dropped it in the mail that afternoon and received confirmation that the sample had arrived at the lab about a week later. Two days after that, I had my results. So, it was just under 2 weeks from ordering that I had my results. Throughout the process, I was super impressed with EverlyWell’s communication– consistent emails updating the progress, great customer service when I had a question, and incredibly clear and easy to find information on their website.

Accuracy

The key thing to be aware of when you take the test is to ensure that you have had all the foods within the past 4 weeks so that it can measure your reactivity. Taking it during the holidays was perfect for me because I had a larger variety of food than I may have in a typical month. Take a look at the list of foods it tests for and make sure you have consumed them before you take the test.

You might have heard about EverlyWell on Shark Tank- they have disrupted the health testing industry, offering at-home tests to the public, often for a much lower cost than you can get through your doctor (I would have paid 3-4 times the price with my doctor PLUS they are usually covered by HSA/FSA). These tests are sent to CLIA-certified labs that are industry leaders and results are reviewed by a physician.

In general, elimination diets are the most accurate to finding food sensitivities, but EverlyWell tests are 95-99% accurate. They recommend a combination for the most accurate identification of problematic foods to you- take the test to find out what foods you should consider eliminating, eliminate, and then 6 months down the road, re-introduce one at a time and allow several days to see if a reaction occurs.

The Results

The results provide a rating for the 96 foods, rated on a scale from High to Normal Reactivity. In my case, I rated High for Egg Whites and Moderate for Egg Yolks.

There were 14 other foods in the Mild category, which means a smaller immune response, but ones that can definitely still cause symptoms. Those included: Brewer’s Yeast, Eggplant, Garlic (sooo sad about this!!), Ginger, Gluten and Wheat (also quite sad about this, but kind of expected), Orange, Rye, Tarragon, Mushroom, Mustard Seed, Yogurt, Bell Pepper, Winter Squash (hope you all enjoy your pumpkin and delicata squash next fall!).

Takeaways

Since I have known my results, I have started to avoid those foods, but didn’t completely eliminate with holiday and birthday season the past couple of months. Now, my plan is to follow an elimination diet of all those 15 foods for the next 6 months. After 6 months, I’ll start trying to re-introduce to see if my reactivity has gone away or not. I can tell you that even with avoiding these foods lately (especially eggs), my skin has been so much more clear. I’m hopeful the other symptoms start to fade soon.

Ultimately, I am really glad I took this test. I was considering going on the AIP diet and still would not have removed garlic (which I have definitely noticed reactions to). I could have gone a long time still suffering symptoms before figuring out the cause. I would highly recommend testing first, then elimination to get accurate results.

Symptoms are not normal. If you are having digestive issues or fatigue or any other issues that make your life uncomfortable, I would encourage you to figure out what is wrong. If you would like to try this test or any of their other at-home tests (vitamin deficiencies, hormones, etc), you can use this link to get 25% off!

Today, I wanted to share the health story of my dear friend Emily. Emily and I have been friends for over 10 years now. We met through church in college and lived together for a couple years before getting married. I’ve shared so many memories with this girl (a trip to NYC and countless costume parties stand out best); she was always the friend I could count on and still is today. She’s one of those rare friends who would move mountains to be there when you needed her. Now we have daughters just a few months apart and have been learning how to be moms together- we share natural remedies, healthy recipes and parenting tips with each other. Emily is also a very talented writer, so I hope you enjoy her story…

Short-term survival vs. long-term survival. Choosing my sanity in the present or my health in the future. Those were my choices when it came to things like food, caffeine, and treatment plans, as well as the way those things affected my marriage and finances. With a large mug of coffee in my hand and thoughts of brewing another, this is what I’m contemplating, and how it all seemed like a lose-lose situation.

My childhood was happy in my giant family of nine – no we weren’t Catholic or Mormon, yes my parents were crazy. However, I was always the sickly one. I recently found out I had the worst vaccine reactions of all seven of us, and that was after I almost died from pneumonia as a baby – as in my grandmother told my mom to make peace with it. She was very sensitive like that. Later, I had multiple ear infections (read: rounds of antibiotics), and I got stomach bugs so often my favorite “food” for a while was ice chips. We even owned a breathing machine for when I got sick, as I had a form of asthma called reactive airways. It’s a good thing I was homeschooled at the time as I would’ve been “one of those” who failed kindergarten from missing school all the time!

As I got older, I grew out of the constant infections, but inherited my father’s world-shattering allergies. I even got his elephant-like nose blowing – charming, thanks Dad. These allergies followed me into adulthood, and would trap me in bed all day like the flu at the peak of cedar pollination. I couldn’t be outside at all then, or when mold, grass, trees, weeds, or oxygen was too high. (Wait, maybe oxygen was on my safe list…)

Sometime during all of that, perhaps in high school, my energy took a nosedive and never came back up. I slept in between classes, and until noon on Saturdays when my mom let me. A few months after I turned 16 and started driving, I even fell asleep at the wheel.

We all just thought I was a normal, sleepy teenager, particularly after my thyroid panel came back normal. So I just kept sleeping as often as possible, all through college, often snoozing 12-14 hours a day. This was, in part, due to my low grade depression that kicked in towards the end of high school.

These health issues followed me like the bouncing metal cans on the “just married” car, and the “clanging” of those collective problems finally arrested my attention: my body wasn’t functioning quite right. However, all of this was still my normal – it was predictable and liveable, so I did nothing about it. Then, right before I got married, my body really punched me in the gut with random and violent gluten intolerance – literally.

The night of my bachelorette, I was too sick to go out – so all my friends came over in their little black dresses and sexy makeup to watch Tangled with me. The night of my wedding, I kept dragging my sister to the bathroom with me to loosen my corset as I was sick again, until I finally just had to take the whole thing off and hope my dress contained me for the rest of the reception!

I had no idea that gluten was even the issue until a trip to the doctor a few months later. Basically, he gave me a script for antacids, and recommended a gluten free diet. The pills did nothing for me, so after a hysterical breakdown about never eating bread or pasta or cookies or anything good in life again – not even COMMUNION – I gave up the mainstay of my diet.

For a while, I was able to get away with “just a bite” of glutenous (yes, I made that a word) indulgences without the miserable nausea that wouldn’t just end with a simple puke…but that didn’t last long. Soon, I was that annoying girl at the restaurant asking if something contains gluten, then having to explain what it was, and then hearing, “No, I don’t think the fried chickpeas have any of that”… think being the operative word here that drove me CRAZY. So you’re hanging the likelihood of my hanging over a toilet half the night on your desire to avoid checking with the chef? Thanks, I appreciate your ignorance…I mean assurance.

Luckily, Austin became a safe haven for us, the gluten challenged. Eventually everything from gluten free fried chicken to gluten free donuts appeared on store aisles and restaurant menus.

But it did not protect me from the next wave of symptoms. The encircled GF by entrees and products did not mean healthy, so neither was I.

Finally, at some point a few years ago, I couldn’t eat anything without fear of nausea, or the kind of bloating that makes you want to stab your bursting belly with an ice pick. I remember eating a paleo, whole 30, #alltherestrictions meal of chicken, spinach, and sweet potato, then being in so much pain I may have cried. I felt completely defeated.

After researching for hours upon hours, I found the GAPS diet, or Gut And Psychology Syndrome. It was created by a neurologist with a masters in nutrition who created this way of eating for her clients, whose disorders ranged from ADHD to autism, depressed to schizophrenic. She found they all had something in common – unhealthy digestive systems. While my mental state was not my primary issue (despite recurring depression), it was obvious my gut was unhealthy.

The first week was TERRIBLE. Like, can’t get out of bed terrible. But I finally, finally, had relief. It resolved my food intolerances to eggs, chicken, and nightshades, and eventually I could eat anything except gluten without reactions! It was my miracle diet.

These days, my chronic fatigue continues to hang over my life like a dark cloud, but when I’m watching my nutrition, I can celebrate being the healthiest I’ve ever been. I haven’t given up on finding total healing, but now I just focus on generally making healthy choices. I used to be obsessed with which diet is best, which food groups are evil, and which of the thousands of supplements I should take (you should see my collection!). It got to the point where it affected most of my close relationships because of arguments I would get into about drugs versus alternative medicine, whether my current diet was healthy or just a fad, or if it mattered using Tilex to clean the shower versus Mrs. Meyers. It had to end.

Now, I’m a lot better at picking my battles, finding that happy space between short term sanity and long term health. I try to choose 90% whole, unprocessed foods for my family (when my picky toddler lets me!), I work to use natural cleaning products in most areas, and I experiment with various natural and/or homemade beauty products. But! I don’t insist on primarily organic food, I had a hospital birth with an epidural, we give our daughter Motrin when she’s visibly in pain, and yes, I let my husband use Comet to clean the INSIDE of the toilet. That’s not how I wanted any of those things to go, but the stress of trying to control everything just isn’t worth it anymore. At what point is it too costly for my relationships and my sanity when I’m fighting tooth and nail for every health decision in our family? We had to meet in the middle.

That’s where I try to live now, finding what healthy feels like in my own body, and in our home. I let God and my husband help me figure out what that looks like. And praise Jesus, every year I get just a little closer.